Airplane door lock



Dec. M, E945, s. @XHANDLER AIRPLANE DOOR LOCK Filed May 24, 1943 2 SheeLS-Sheet e-c.4 M, Q45. y 5, @XHANDLER 2,390,731

AIRPLANE DOOR LOCK Filed May 24, 1943 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Dec. 11, 1945 Samuel Oxhandler, Flushing, `N. iY., assignorA to Sargent & Company, N ew. Haven, Conn., .a cor porationrof Connecticut Applicat-ion May 24, 1943;SeraVNowtSSglll s claims. v(Cleese-37) Thisinvention relates to doorlocks and more .particularly to a lockfor airplane doors for example, in that it provides a lock all parts ofWhich vare mounted within the plane of the outer surface of1thedoo-r,that it, there are no projecting f parts at the-outerfsurface of the door either by Way f operating handles 0r otherwise, which is desirable in installations for doors of airplanes.

-Asis Well known, it is undesirable to have any projecting parts at the exterior of the body surface iof -an airplane and-it is advantageous that all such surface be `smooth and Vstreamlined even Various dors. 'It has'been proposed in some instances toprovide operating handles for the door 'bolts-Which are retractable or depressible'so that whenfnot in `use they-may be depressed into re'- cesses provided, in order that they will lie in flush relation and not project from the surface ofthe door itself. In the present invention, this flush relationship of the door handles or bolt-operatingmembers is achieved byarrangingrthe outer bolt-operatinghandle in a recess orfdepression in the door itself and coveringfthis,` depression With a small auxiliaryy doororclosure member which-maybe locked in closed-position sofas tovprevent faccess to the door handleby an unauthorized person. This auxiliary door isv normallyretained in closed position and is substantiallyilush withthe surface of the mainl door but is so constructed 'that when not locked may `be readily opened from the outside of the-plane to provide access tothe `operatingfhandle-toppen the doorincase' of accident, v`for example. The inner'handle'of the `door is accessible atall `times so Ithat, regardless 0f 4Whether or not thehandle cover or auxiliary doorisclosed, thevmain door may always be opened from the inside.

'One of the objects of the invention yis to provide. an airplane door lock no parts of which will projectlfromthe outer'surface of the door.

'A still further object of the invention-is the provision of an airplane door lock having an to theprovision of the fastening means for the operating member readily accessible .from 1' the,

Still another object of the invention is' the-'prol-vision of an airplane-door lock offthetype'de- `scribed, in-'Whichthe outside operatinghandle is mounted in a- Idepression Within the surface ofthe Idoor, which' depression is Covered by a' cover plate which may be-lockedin-'a -closedf position substantiallyush `with `the vsurfaceA oi the door yand When vnot locked may bereadily `opened from the`outside -to permit 4access 'to 'thehand'le sothat' the door itself may beppened fromitheexterior f the plane.

Y'l2-o these and other-endsgthe invention consists,

in 'thelnove'l features and combination `(5f-parts to be hereinafter described andclaimed.

In the 'accompanying drawings: l fFig.1' isa frontfelevational view of a door embodying myv invention;

'Fig.f'2 Visa vievvy of the Ilock mechanism'at the inside of the door;

FigS-isa vieweof the loekv'mechanismjat the outside f the Vdoor Withf the hinge cover for the outside handle being shown'inopen position;

`lig.-4 isalsectional-viewon ka lined-4 of Figfl; "Figf is afragmentary-view similar to Fig, 4

showing the cover in'- partially open position;

i6 is al sectionallvview on line 6-"6 of-'Fig.f`2; l"lig."7ly isfan venlarged, detail, inside -vieW of `the locking mean'sferl the cover anda lever for openingfthe 'coverifrom the outside of the door; vand `To illustrate =a preferred vembodiment of' 4my inventionpIhhave-'shown in fFigl ofthe drawings yerdoor frame l |10 1--Whi'ch,-for example, may 'be' la partfoffan -airplanefand-fa door-II withinfthe frame,l this Adoor! being'hingedat'l 2.

Assi-lovin, -thedoor I I 'is a partof a double door; the other unit of which is `shown at I3, and -thehinges- I2- are mounted at the inside ofthe doors.

The'dcor L I I "may be locked in` closedposition .by means of ybolts" |14 projectable intokeeper openings I5 in the door frame. 'These lbolts Y-fare mounted at theneridof rods' or linksv I6; the inner 'endsy of which 4are pivotedf as rshown at I'T to a rotatable, '-bolt-operating'disk 1 I8,y to which is secured the innerfoperatingvhandle IBS-asis clearly showrriin Filgni.

zIt'vvilllrbe' understood: that' theY foregoing .parts arewrnounted:at/thev inside of `the door, the handle I-9fan'd'operating disk-I8 being rotatably carried by la cup=shaped :supporting member 20 .securedxatr the insidetof the v.door bymeans of 'projecting wears .2I rand` bolts Vt2. The handle is provided'with Va hub member-23 :carrying thereon atcollar'Zd rotatablyimounted ina depressedporf tion 25 of the outer wall of the cup-shaped member 2i). Upon the inside of the cup-shaped member the outside handle 26 is secured to the hub member 23 which, as will be obvious, Serves to hold the two handles in place in the mounting member 2G a-nd connect them rotatably to this member.

An opening is provided through the door II, opposite the mounting member 2 0, and a circular frame 21 is secured to the door in a position to surround this opening, this frame being so disposed that its outer surface is substantially fiush with the outer surface of the door. With this construction, it will be seen from Fig'. 4 for example that the outside handle 26 lies within the ope-ning provided in the door and the cup-shaped mounting member 23 so that the outer surface of this handle does not extend outwardly beyond the outer surface of the door or beyond the outer surface of the frame member 21 which is substantially flush with the door. It will also be understood that the inside handle I9 is always accessible from the inside of the plane to operate the bolt disk I8 and thus withdraw or project the bolts I and that the outside handle 26 is accessible through the circular opening in the frame 21. Moreover, the opening in the door in which the outside handle 26 lies is of suicient size to permit rotation of this handle and to permit anyone desiring to operater the door to insert his hand through the opening i-n the circular frame 21 and grasp and rotate the handle 26. Thus it will be seen that the bolts Ill may be operated from either face of the door.

Posts 23 are secured at the inner surface of the frame v21, the bolts 22 being threaded into these posts to secure the frame member 21 in place as well as securing the supporting member 20 to the door.

Y In order that the door may be locked when desired, against being opened from the outside, and also in order that all parts of the door be flush and smooth at the outside surface thereof, I provide a hinged cover for the opening in frame 21, which cover 30, as seen from Figs. 1 and 4, will besubstantiallyflush with the frame 21 and therefore flush with the outer surface of the door. v

This cover is provided with U-shape hinge members 3I pivoted or `hinged at 32 at Vthe inside of the door, Vand around the pivot 32 is coiled a spring 33 which, in this instance, is tensioned to urge the cover 33 to its closed position shown in Fig. 4. This cover may be locked in this position by means of a key-operated lock 34 having a rollback 35 engageable in a notch or recess 36 provided in a post 31 secured at the inside of the cover at a point opposite the hinge edge thereof. By use of the proper key, the rollerback 35 may be rotated to engaging or non-engaging position when desired, and when in non-engaging position the cover 3B may be opened against the tension of' the spring 33.

As the cover 30 is substantially flush with the outer surface of the door and fits closely in frame 21, andas it is desired to have no projecting parts on the cover or associated parts, it is necessaryl to have some means to assist in moving the cover to open position. The means provided herein is in the form of a push button 38 provided in a portion of the frame 21 as is the key-operated lock 313 and to the inner end of this push-button is pivoted a lever 39 also pivoted at its intermediate portion on a pivot I0 to the frame 21. The lever 39 has Va hook-shaped end portion 4I designed to engage the inner surface of the cover 30 as shown in Figures 4 and 5 so that, when the push button is depressed as shown in Fig. 5 and the lever 39 rocked about its pivot 40, the end 4I of this lever will move the cover to partly-open position and enable an operator to grasp the edge of the same with his fingers to move it to fully-open position shown in Fig. 3 in which the outside handle 26 is accessible for operation.

In the case of the use of my device on airplane doors, it will be understood that the key-operated lock 34 will not normally be used when the plane is in operation as it is desirable to have the door side or the outside. As described above, the handle I9 is always accessible from the inside of the door. The handle 26 at the outside, however, will ordinarily be covered by the hinge cover 30 so that the outside surface of the door will be completely ush as is desired. If, however, it is necessary to open the door from the outside of the plane, accessibility to the handle 26 may readily be gained by depressing thepush-button 38 which will serve to move the cover 30 from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig.

V5, at which timevit may be grasped and moved to fully open position shown in Fig. 3 to expose the handle 26 for operation. Thus, while there are no projecting parts on theoutside of the door (the push button 38 and lock 34 also being flush with the outer surface of the door), thel latter may be freely opened from within or without although the cover 33 will be held in closed position during operation of the plane. n n

If it is desired to lock the planeV against entry from the outside, the lock 34 is operated to move the rollback 33 into engagement with the post 31 as shown in Figs. '7 and 8 which will lock the cover 30 closed and prevent access 'to the handle 26.

From the inside of the door, the latter is operated independently of the cover 30 as the handle I9 may be rotated when the cover is in closed position so that the structure providing for ush position of the parts from the outside of the door does not interfere with, or alter the operation of, the lock from the inside.

While I have shown and described a preferred l embodimentof my invention, it will be understood Ythat it is not to belimited to rall'of the details shown but is capable of `modificationand variation within the spirit of theinvention v,and within the scope of the appended claims.

WhatI claim is: Y f' l. In combination with a door having an opening therethrough, a kcup-shaped mounting member secured at the inner surfaceV of the door in a position to face said opening, a bolt-operating member rotatably mounted o-n the base of said mounting member, an inner handlesecuredA to said operating member :and having a hub projecting throughthe base of said mounting member, and an outer handle secured to the projecting 'end of said hub and lying within the space provided by said mounting member and by the opening through the door. Q Y j 2. In combination with a door having an opening therethrough, a frame secured at the outer surface of the door about said opening, amounting member at the inner surface ofthe door and secured to said framea bolt operating member rotatably mounted on said mounting member, an inner handle secured to said operating member and having a hub projecting thro-ugh thei mounting member, an outer handle secured `to .the projecting end of said hub and extending intothe opening through the door, and a cover hinged.` to

said frame, which cover, when closed, lies substantially flush with the outer surface of the door.

3. In combination with a door having an opening therethrough, a frame secured. at the outer surface of the door about said opening, a mounting member at the inner surface of the door and secured to said frame in spaced relation tol the latter, a bolt operating member rotatably mounted 0n said mounting member, an inner handle secured to said operating member and having a hub projecting through the mounting member, an outer handle secured to the projecting end of said hub and extending into the opening through the door to be disposed in the space between said frame and mounting member, and a cover hinged to said frame which cover, when closed, lies substantially ush with the outer surface of the doo-r.

SAMUEL OXHANDLER. 

